Hey all.
I recently got into both Rollins and UF, and I have been torn between which one to go to. I missed UF’s narrow application window for their honors program, but have been offered admission in Rollins’ Honors program.
My intended major for both was Business Administration.
Which is a better bet? Rollins with it’s Honors college, or UF with it’s name and prestige.
Also, consider that Rollin’s offered me the Dean’s scholarship (30,000), bringing down it’s cost of attendance to roughly the same as UF’s. Again, money is not an issue here.
I think it depends on what type of college experience you want. I thought my son would want a smaller school experience, but now that we’re down to decision time, his top three are FSU, UF and UCF. It really surprised me, but he wants the large amount of resources/opportunities offered by the larger schools, as well as the variety of people to meet and hang out with.
Only you can answer that question!
I think academically you will be with strong students at Rollins’ Honors College. The same will be true of the general student population at UF, you don’t need to be in Honors there to be with really bright people.
Which campus do you picture yourself being a part of for the next four years? If you haven’t done a shadow day at UF, there is still time to arrange one. Not sure what Rollins offers that might be similar.
What do you want to do after college?
How important is watching good football to you?
If you had honors college at UF I’d go with UF but learning conditions will be much better at Rollins than at UF non honors.
In terms of undergraduate education, Rollins is excellent (personalized advising, interactive classes) and its business school is well-known throughout the South. The honors program gives you definite advantages. In particular in business, where experiential learning is important, it’d be a net positive.
If you really wanted the UF vibe, you could transfer to UF for junior year after benefiting from all the honors college and Rollins perks (especially small classes vs. lecture halls) and not be worse off financially, whereas the reverse isn’t possible since merit scholarships at Rollins aren’t given to transfers.
No matter what, do an overnight at each. Stay in a dorm, attend a freshman English seminar and a class in your major, contact the honors college to arrange a tour, read the campus paper, eat in the cafeteria (not just for the food but also to observe people there, are they chatting and being social or are they alone, nose on cell?)
It’s very, very difficult to transfer into UF’s College of Business. A few years ago, they stop accepting any transfer students. Now they accept a few, and they created a Business Administration BA degree, BABA, that’ is a the BA version of UF"s standard Business Administration BS (BABS) degree, that’s for transfer students. You take more classes in CLAS (college of liberal arts and sciences) and fewer in the college of business (hence why it’s a BA degree and not BS).
http://warrington.ufl.edu/undergraduate/academics/admissions/transfer.asp
If you want to attend UF"s COB, you should enroll as a freshman.
Otherwise, Rollins is very nice and in many ways very different from UF. You can’t go wrong with either option. 
What!?! Clearly this is the MOST IMPORTANT aspect/question of any college search! Is your mascot a Gator and do you play in the SEC? What other questions matter? :-bd
I hope @Trisherella son is consider that question! Indigenous natives and armor platted believers of chivalry are no replacement for large carnivorous reptiles.
Wow…hard to pick two more different experiences. Talk about fit!
Upfront–I’m biased towards UF but I have visited both schools. They are REALLY different. UF is a vibrant college campus and Rollins is a small resort with classes.
UF has Rollins beat in the school rankings by a huge margin from what I find. Really compare the two programs–don’t compare a graduate degree to undergraduate degree. Compare prices very closely–they may be further apart than you first believe even when factoring in your scholarship. Include room and board.
I did go to a tour of the business college at UF and was very impressed. Heck, I wanted to sign up and I graduated years ago.
The honors program at UF is great to be in for various reasons but is not a deal breaker for most students. After the first year it probably won’t matter at all to tell the truth (and my son was in honors). One of the main perks is housing. Once you move into your major and out of gen ed classes the class size is significantly smaller no matter who you are.
The Gator nation is pretty large–those reptiles do stick together after graduation. The networking is very active.
Like Gator88 says, don’t plan on transferring into business at a later date. No idea about Rollins networking.
What would YOU like from your college experience?
Rollins is VERY small in my book. Very preppy. Very pretty. Less than 2000 students. Less than some high schools. Maybe that really appeals to you. You can spend a nice afternoon out on a sailboat on the lake.
UF is what I think of as a true college experience. SEC football, lots of clubs, sports, large facilities that cater to students exclusively and a town that has grown up around the campus. Go scream your head off at the football game (something that will NEVER happen at Rollins) or go out for a nice afternoon on a sailboat at Lake Wahlberg…
^Keep in mind that for some people, football and football fans are a huge downside to UF… 
Some people really don’t mind a college where sports are low-key. For them, the true college experience includes lots of clubs, lots of interactive classes, class discussions that spill out into the cafeteria, being invited over for dinner by professors, etc.
Both are really different, but both carry prestige (Rollins ranks #1 or #2 among all comprehensive universities in the South), a solid business program, strong alumni networks, a distinct campus culture.
The numbers are different (more people = more alumni and more students per class at UF), the vibe is different, the environment is different, the “typical/average student” is different.
I don’t especially like Rollins but it’s definitely worth considering even for a student who got into UF.
TIme to go spend an overnight!
Rollins high rankings for business are for it’s MBA program not undergraduate for the record.
But the schools are TOTALLY different. Go visit!
I think some visits, a shadow day, or an overnight would be key, given how different the two schools are.